


Ashen Dreams

by caelninti



Series: Chain of Heaven [1]
Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Soen no Kiseki/Akatsuki no Megami | Fire Emblem Path of Radiance/Radiant Dawn
Genre: M/M, Romance, Slash, Yaoi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-07-25
Updated: 2012-07-30
Packaged: 2017-11-10 16:45:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,484
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/468482
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/caelninti/pseuds/caelninti
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In a new land, two friends must find their way through a war, lies, the boundaries and hate created by fear of the unknown, and the risks taken to make unbreakable bonds. As the Mad King's War rages, so do matters of the heart.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Innocent Rose

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance, no matter how much I wish I did. I also do not own any of the characters. I do, however, own Andúne, Raida, Castien, Aniel, and Silaina. Please don't steal.

     When I think about the crappy romance novels that my mother used to read I can't help but to laugh. I could never imagine that a person would read them let alone write them. One in particular really had me riled up. I really can't remember the title at this moment, but I can give you the basic plot synopsis. Girl sees guy, freaks out when Guy looks at her. The keep bumping into each other everywhere they go and Girls can't keep him out of her thoughts even though she doesn't even know his name. Eventually after a really embarrassing accident in an overly populated area, Guy helps Girl out and then they lock eyes and everything falls into place. Are you rolling you’re eyes yet? Don’t worry I don’t blame you for it even one bit. I hate it too.

     This is not going to be a story like that, there is no way I could ever compare to the craziness that my life has turned out to be in this past year to the way that terribly written, poor excuse for a plot line. I’m not going to lie to you there are some terribly sappy moments during this tale, as well as some extremely angsty moments and some utterly depressing times just to make you feel so spirited. This tale is mainly told through my eyes and because of that, well I’m going to be biased against some people, it happens there isn’t much I can do to keep it out of my voice. I really don’t like some of the people that I have met and others I love with all of my heart. For that reason every now and then my teacher will interject her thoughts into the fold. She has a way of telling it like it is and giving me a reality check. I definitely want you guys to realize the full scope of the situation before you pass judgment. So I guess that we could just jump right on into it, huh?

 

********

 

     There are kids that completely hate their parents; there are others who love them so completely that they can’t function like a normal human being without them. I am perhaps somewhere in the middle. I have felt neither love nor hate for either of my parents; after all, I have never once seen them in my whole entire life.  They “died,” sometime after I was born, or so I’ve been told. It’d been just me and my brother for a while; my dead-beat sister left us when we were little to fend for ourselves and we'd been on our own ever since. That was a long time ago, though. Anyway my brother, Castien, had been taking care of us since he was ten, and I, 4. At first it was hard, since there was no one around we were force to survive on our own.  Add to that the fact that I was unable to aid him, and we were pretty bad off right from the start.

     It got better though, with time. Eventually it came to our attention that Castien had ungodly strength, he could pick up things at least 4 times his small size. He could do a lot more jobs after we realized this.  Things didn’t become much better, unfortunately. Being on our own we weren’t educated, there wasn’t much Castien could teach me beyond basic phrases and survival skills. Still we managed. By the time Castien was 15 and I was 9, we learned that the land we had been living in was called Hatari. We were on the outskirts, where no one resided, and it wasn’t until I ran too deep into the forest that we learned that the two of us weren’t the only beings inhabiting these lands.

     I met my first laguz that day. Hiding in the shadows of one of the larger trees in the forest, I saw what had to be the hugest dogs that I had ever seen in my short life. Seeing it left me in such awe that I failed to realize that I had caught its attention. I couldn’t keep myself from moving towards to it, and as I did I remember its head shot up and looked directly at me. In my childish naivety and despite all of the survival skills my brother tried to drill into my head, I didn’t run away or cower in fear. I simply smiled at it. I realize now that if I was anywhere but in Hatari, I would’ve been killed instantly. Instead the wolf walked towards me, sniffed at me cautiously, and then transformed in front of my very eyes.

      The wolf, a beautiful woman with long brown hair, smiled down at me with kind eyes. I was so entranced that I failed to hear Castien’s frantic calling for me. Unbeknownst to me, I had been missing for over two hours. Fearing I had come across danger, Castien had been frantically searching for me in the forest. Though I remained undisturbed, the laguz did not. As my brother entered the clearing, panting and sweating from his run through the trees, he was struck cold by the sight of me so near to what, at the time, was a foreign entity. Confusion was clear on his face, and not knowing what to do, he rushed her. To this day, the three of us laugh at my brothers “daring” attempt at a rescue.  Needless to say, he failed in a rather spectacular manner, tripping over a root long before he reached his perceived “enemy.”

     Though I could hear her chuckle, the lady was kind enough to help my brother of the floor of the forest. Castien couldn’t help but to look at her with wariness in his eyes, after all, it had been the two of us by ourselves for over five years now. If we hadn’t know that we had an older sister, the two of us would have been convinced that we were the only people like us, or similar to us, in the entire world. Aniel, as she later introduced to us, assured us that she was not the only of her kind and that we were not the only ones of our own. She referred to us as “Halflings”.  She explained to us that there were Beorc, beings that looked like us, and Laguz, beings that looked like her and could transform into wolves like she did. Castien and I, she informed us, were a mix of the two, commonly referred to as Halflings and that we were special because of that. The marks on my lower back and the one on Castien’s right ankle proved it to be so. That led me to inquire if that was the reason why Castien had could lift such heavy rocks and fallen trees. She confirmed that that could very well be the cause of it.

     Aniel took us to her home where she lived with her mate, Silaina. She explained to us that since she had chosen to take on another female as a mate, the two of them were unable to have children. She was positive that Silaina would love to take us in. Silaina was just as beautiful as Aniel, though her hair was of a purplish tint and she was far taller than Aniel. Silaina took one look at us before her face broke out into a huge grin and she proclaimed us to be her own children.

    We learned many things living with Aniel and Silaina. They were loving parents and doted on us daily. While Silaina taught Castien how to fight, hunt and took him into town to learn from the blacksmith how to forge weapons, Aniel was teaching me how to grow plants for eating and healing, cooking and how to care for the house. I had a natural affinity for gardening. Aniel would tell me to cultivate it and use when tended the garden. Neither of us had any idea just how much power I had over them until the day I coaxed a sickly plant back to health with just a touch. To say that we were shocked would be an understatement. I had been filled with such great sadness that the plant was dying, and had been wishing so hard for it to become health again, that when I placed my hands on it to pray over it to Yune like Aniel taught me, it glowed softly before returning to its full glory once again.

     Aniel said that I had been blessed by the goddess, Castien as well, and that we should both practice using our gifts to see just how far they extended. Castien and I worked ourselves to near exhaustion every day for the next 5 years, pushing ourselves to discover more about our talents. Each of those days, Aniel and Silaina gave us the loving care we had so desperately missed out on. As we continued to grow and to learn, Silaina decided that it was time for us to visit her cousin. By this time, I could effectively “talk” to the tress, though no words really passed between us and I could grow plants to extremely large height, having them aid me. My speaking ability allowed me to converse with other animals as well, though I didn’t have quite the same connection that I did with plant life. I had also gotten pretty good at tree climbing and moving swiftly through tree tops or undetected in the forest. I could even restrain Castien, albeit for a limited amount of time, so I could get in a few good hits before he knocked me out in a sparring match. Though my plants kept me safe and I could fight relatively well with just them, I had absolutely no skill with swords lances axes, or even bows like Castien did.

     Castien was master of all things steel, he had the power to lift incredibly heavy weapons with little effort and he was fast enough to move out of an opponent’s way without being struck. Though he wasn’t as fast as me, he definitely had greater endurance on his side. I don’t think I ever saw him out of breath during our last year at home. Castien’s chosen weapon was either a large broadsword, which he carried on his back (I could never help laughing at him because it completely dwarfed him) or a smaller axe and sword pair. Castien could strike the ground with his bare hand and make a small crater, and it never failed to awe me how much power he held contained in his little body.  I’m fairly certain that his growing strength was the reason that Silaina decided that we needed to move to the Capitol city to see her cousin. Castien was wearing her down.

     Aniel and Silaina lived in a small village that couldn’t have numbered over 600, though that seemed like such a large amount of people to both Castien and I. We had known every one there including a few Halflings like ourselves. It was a nerve-wracking experience, at least one my part. Castien, though he held my hand the entire way, seemed more excited than anything. I often found myself wishing that I had his same confidence.  While I wasn’t anywhere near shy, I wasn’t the most outgoing child either. I once heard Silaina telling Aniel that my reclusive demeanor had more to do with my size than my fear of other people. Aniel believed that it was simply because I found comfort in nature rather than in Beorc or Laguz. I’m inclined to side with Aniel, but I just believe that it was because I spent more time with her than I did with Silaina. I loved them both equally, but there was no way I could do all of the sparring and hunting she did with Castien. In some ways I think Silaina appreciated the fact that I was of a more nurturing nature than Castien, since Aniel had time to spend with someone as well.

      Our arrival into the city struck me with a sense of awe that I hadn’t felt since seeing Aniel for the first time. It was far larger than our village; in fact, one building alone could’ve housed our village by itself. Aniel explained to me that the building was called an Inn and that it housed travelers from various parts of Hatari. Silaina proudly stated that we would be staying somewhere much bigger. Castien looked at me with wide eyes and mouthed ‘Just who is her cousin?’ I, too, was very curious.

     We passed many buildings when the largest one by far came into view. Castien’s hand shook in mine as we both took in the splendor of what Aniel explained was the Castle where the Queen, and Silaina’s cousin, Nailah lived. When came upon the steps of the castle, I found myself inching closer to Castien. The palace was far bigger up close than at a distance and I was shocked to see so many Beorc, with weapons, and Laguz in animal form walking around the grounds and standing by the door. Silaina explained to us that they wee a part of the army, and though Hatari had not seen war in over since the Great Flood, the army was always ready to fight against whatever invaders may come.

      Castien seemed to listen with bated breath at every word Silaina spoke and I was sure that he would be joining the army as soon as he was able. I, however, was almost positive that the army was not where I belonged. Silaina and Aniel moved us along and as we entered the doors of the palace I was filled with the same feelings I had when we entered into the Capitol city. The palace floors were lined with colorful carpets and on the walls were many paintings and cloths on the walls. When asked, Aniel explained that they were called tapestries and that many skilled seamstresses worked very hard to present them to the Queen.

     I wasn’t aware of how nervous I was to meet Queen Nailah, until we were in the throne room and I saw her on the throne. She was definitely a very regal person. She carried herself with an arrogant confidence, and was intimidating to a 14 year old child who was barely five feet. Though she was a Queen, she greeted us each with warm hugs and talked to us as if we had known her every day of our lives. She was gruff but kind, and spoke in a manner that made all around her comfortable. Queen Nailah also had a companion whom she had met 13 years ago. Rafiel was hands down the most beautiful creature I had ever seen and I believe Castien was of the same opinion, while I admired his beauty, Castien was riveted to the sight of the Heron Prince. Hearing the prince’s story only served to endear him to Castien further.  Though Rafiel was telling us of what befell his people 14 years ago, and how Nailah found him wondering the desert, he looked only at Castien. I admit I was a little bit jealous, but it faded when I quickly realized that it was futile.

     As soon as he was able Castien began training with the army. His power and skill with weapons had him escalating up the ranks, and I couldn’t help but to be proud of him. Though Castien was quick to acknowledge my praise with a smile or a hug, he practically sparkled underneath Rafiel’s.  I was bitter towards the Heron over it, and I refused to even be in the presence of the Prince whenever he came my way. I could tell that my actions hurt him, but I couldn’t get over the anger I felt towards Rafiel for stealing my only brother’s attention from me. My resentment turned into hate when Castien confronted me on behalf of Rafiel, claiming that I was being childish and hurting Rafiel’s feelings. My attempt at arguing failed when he gave me the coldest glare I had ever seen on my brother’s face. MY brother was never anger, I was the one known for their temper after all, but to see his anger directed towards me was the breaking point for me.

    From then on, I ignored Castien as well, and though I could tell it hurt him, he refused to be the one to concede. Aniel despaired over our obvious falling out, while both Nailah and Silaina assured her that the argument would clear up over time.  It took over a year for us to finally begin talking, and that was only because Rafiel came crawling into my room crying about how Castien was torn apart by our separation. I wasn’t inclined to believe him; however, I missed my brother too much to continue our fighting. Our “heart-to-heart” was anti-climactic at best, and though we both apologized to each other, it took a few more months before we could completely repair our broken bond.

    Eventually I was able to bury my hatred towards Rafiel; it was another year before I was companionable towards him, and a few months after that that we could be called friends. After we got over (or rather I got over) the initial animosity, Rafiel began teaching me the modern tongue and telling me about Tellius, his homeland.  I caught onto the language fairly quickly and was held captivated by Rafiel’s every word.  Eventually I would have to leave as Castien came in and Rafiel’s attention was solely his. This caused me to be jealous again. Not of Rafiel, but this time of Castien. Castien was everything I wished to be tall, (he was pushing six foot now) strong and imposing. Over the last two and a half years I had barely managed to gain another 3 inches. Standing at an impressive 5’ 4”, and I felt every bit the intimidator anytime I walked into a room. If I could’ve be as sure of myself as Castien, then perhaps I would’ve been attractive to others. Instead I usually felt gangly and awkward when compared to Aniel’s gorgeousness, Rafiel’s quiet magnificence, Castien’s handsome features, and Silaina and Nailah’s deadly beauty. While I had no doubts that I wasn’t ugly, I knew I was somewhere around the average level, and that did nothing for my self-confidence.

    It was during my third year at the palace that I fell in with a group of dancers. They were graceful and skilled and every time I watched them I felt as if I was stuck in time. After my sixth time coming to watch them, they invited me to join them. I didn’t want to seem rude, so I decided that I would try my hand at. I ended up having the time of my life with them. I would go out each day and practice with them, learn new techniques and ultimately dance my worries away. One of the army lieutenants came out to watch us a few weeks later, and after realizing who I was approached me after we finished our fun for the day. I had seen him around the palace before, he was a friend of Castien, but I wasn’t sure what he could possibly have to say to me.

     He told me how Castien had mentioned how I was still looking for a way to be effective on the battle field. At first I thought he was offering to train me, but he put that idea to rest when he by telling me that he knew of someone who would be willing to take me under their wings and teach me a special fighting style. The only stipulation was that I had to meet my new teacher under the cover of night. I had lived a sheltered life up until that point, so the fact that the lieutenant could have possibly meant me harm had never crossed my mind. Thankfully, that wasn’t the problem and the next night I met my new teacher. 

     Raida was my height and of a similar build to me, and after a quick onceover, she immediately proclaimed that I would be the perfect student to pass down her fighting style to. I was nervous about what was to come, but for the first two weeks we only meditated. IT kept me calm, and while I danced during the day, I was able to relax at night. The “training” we had been doing so far was not an accurate depiction of what lied in the future. After the meditation lessons, Raida began teaching me to move silently and quickly. I was never as thankful as I was then that I had always had natural speed. Raida pushed my body harder than I ever had with Silaina, but that happened to only be the beginning. Soon we were dodging; or rather I was dodging whatever she threw at me, sharp or otherwise. Then it was punching, and then kicking. Raida taught me how to throw opponents twice my own size. After a good year Raida finally approached me about picking a weapon. I was no good with magic, couldn’t even get a small breeze to fly past me and larger weapons were out of the question since they slowed me down immensely. Raida took me to a specialist all the way on the other side of the city. Inside the little shop there were various weapons and not one of them were a plain axe sword or lance.  After being in the shop for four hours Raida finally decided on a few purchases. There was a long pole that disconnected,  two shin guards with spikes on them, the small poles- about as long as my arm – with handles, and two fans.

     I had no idea if this eclectic bunch of weapons could really defeat anyone, but so far Raida had no led me astray, so I trusted her again. Training resumed the next day. We quickly learned that the pole was simply too tall for me to maneuver effectively but every other weapon was great. The shin guards, or grieves allowed my kicks to be more dangerous and they gave me the ability to block with my legs. The two miniature poles, called tonfa, moved in sync with me as I spun or punched. Raida also told me that I could add spikes to them to make them more deadly. The fans were long distance of sorts. I could throw them like an archer could shoot an arrow, except they came back to me. I wasn’t quite sure how, but they did.

      We trained for another year before Raida hadú it firmly planted in her mind that the two of us were going to go across the Great Desert to the land where Rafiel was born. We discussed it with Nailah and she granted our wish, eager too, to see what lied beyond the desert. The hardest part was to convince Aniel and Silaina that I was capable of going. They couldn’t understand why I had to leave, and though I couldn’t say it out loud, I know it was because I would forever be over shadowed if I stayed here. I refused to back down, and with Nailah vouching for Raida and one of the best fighters in Hatari, Silaina acquiesced. Aniel, however took far more convincing than her mate. I could see the hurt evident in her eyes, and her pleading that she could be a better mother only cemented the guilt I felt at leaving her. I promised her that it wasn’t her fault, but that it was something I felt Yune called me to do. She couldn’t argue with that logic and gave, albeit reluctantly, me her blessing. I could see it in Castien’s face that when Raida announced our decision he wished to join us, however his ties to the army and Rafiel were more than enough to convince him to stay home.  He swore though that he would be coming with Nailah when she decided to make the trip over.

     We prepared for two months to get on our journey. With goodbyes said and kisses given, Raida and I departed into the unknown. We traveled for a good three months before we finally reached the other side of the desert. Taking in a deep breath, I readied myself for what was up ahead.

 

********

 

     That's pretty much it for my backstory. I know it was fairly vague and over pretty quickly, but it isn't as important as what happened once we crossed the desert. I know I promised you to be witty and sassy, however my past really isn't anything that required those kind of remarks. There will be plenty of that in the future. 

Until next time,

Andúne


	2. Forest Meetings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance, no matter how much I wish I did. I also do not own any of the characters. I do, however, own Andúne, Raida, Castien, Aniel, and Silaina. Please don't steal.

They called this land Tellius, and Rafiel assured me that it was a wonderful place. So far, I was unimpressed by what I had seen.  After coming out of the desert, we entered into a land called Begnion. I was forced to do all of the talking since Raida was still fairly unfamiliar with speaking the language. The people we met at the market were fairly nice. They were quick to point out the inn and sites when I explained that Raida and I were travelers on our first visit to this country. I suppose it helped that they still used gold as currency and that we had plenty of it.

I liked the town for the most part. It was larger than where Castien and I grew up, but definitely smaller than the Hatarian Capital. We spent about five days in the town before we continued on the way. We passed by several towns on our trip to see the Begnion Capital, Sienne. Each passing town grew less and less friendly. They also seemed to be more extravagant and snooty. Hatari had its issues with the wealthy and the poor, but the differences in money here startled me. On one side of the towns, it was beautiful, pristine and overly clean. On the other side, they lived on the streets or in barely standing houses. As far as I could see Tellius was a less than ideal place to live for most of the population. Raida reminded me that I had to reserve my judgment, since Tellius was a large land, and we had probably only seen a fraction of it.

Still, my opinion would hardly be changed, especially with what happened in Sienne.

 ********

 

“ **While it’s still day, we should find the nearest inn**.” Though Raida may have been speaking to you, she never once looked you in the eye. Well, unless you angered her. I think most people found it odd. Since she was rather lacking in height, standing at an impressive 5’5” (taller than myself, and she never let me forget it) she always had to look up to those who spoke to her. However, rather than look into your eyes, she would look off to the side or at your forehead. Weird, but after four years I hardly ever took notice of it anymore.

“I suppose. We can ask that merchant over there.” I waited until Raida grunted her consent – I’m not sure why she did that, she was hardly a woman of few words- then made my way over to the merchant stall. “Would you mind telling us where we can find an inn?”

The man, tall, burly and terribly ugly, looked us up and down before gruffly responding, “I think an inn in the west side of the city would better suit the two of you.”

The disdain in his voice was very apparent, especially to Raida, who knew perfectly well what he was saying though she still had trouble speaking the modern tongue. The tone alone was enough to incite her, even if she could not understand the modern language.

“ **Look you jackass, who the-** ”

“Even though we don’t look like it, we have the money to rent two rooms, sir.” I had to intervene fast in order make sure Raida didn’t cut the poor man’s throat. He was looking at Raida as though she were possessed, but as soon as I open the bag containing our gold his eyes lit up.

“Well why didn’t you say so,” his face looked greedy as he peered into the bag, and there was discernible disappointment when I closed it and placed it back into my carrying bag. “Do you see the building with the red roof?”

“The one behind the fountain?” The building was hard to miss. After all there was large sign that said ‘Inn” on it. I felt pretty damn stupid for not seeing it earlier.

 “Yes, they will be quite happy to accommodate the two of you during your stay.” His eyes gleamed in the light. “If the two of you would be needing any-“

 “ **We don’t want any of your shit you, stupid ass-** ” I grabbed Raida’s arm as quickly as possible, leaving the confused salesman with a:

“Thank you for your help!”

We were met with the same intense stares when we entered the inn. Just like with the merchant, the moment we should them how much gold we had they were tripping over themselves to help us. We decided to rent two rooms for the next four days. It was our hope that we would be finished with our time in Sienne by then.

“ **All of these pompous people get on my damn nerves.** ” Raida entering a room without knocking was something that I had to get used to when she was training me. “ **Who the fuck cares how we look; if we’re coming in we obviously have the means to pay for your overpriced bedrooms.** ”

I had to agree with Raida on this, “ **Things in Tellius are certainly not the same as Hatari, but we are here to learn. That’s what the Queen sent us to do.”**

” **You know what really pisses me off?** ” I could only sigh, sit down and wait out her tirade. She never listened when she was upset. “ **We haven’t been attacked by any fucking bandits. What the hell is this place, land of the fucking pansies?** ”

” **You know,** ” I began, standing up from the bed and standing in front of her. “ **Most people would be happy that they remained safe on a journey.** ”

Raida stopped her rant to look at me. She seemed to be contemplating her response, rubbing a finger over her cheek. “ **I wanna get drunk and start a bar fight.”**

The calm way she said that tipped me off to her intentions for the day. I could only sigh before grabbing my tonfa and a smaller sack to carry our coins in. I had no illusions about what would happen if we were to leave our money here. " **Let’s go then.”**

********

 

We found a tavern relatively close to the inn. Raida was pleased because it meant that she could drink at pretty much anytime without having to scour the city. I was just glad it was close enough for me to carry when she got drunk and rowdy.  The inside of the bar was full of men several drinks in, lewdly hitting on all of the waitresses and the women inside the bar with clothing that left little to the imagination. I couldn’t help but to roll my eyes at all of their antics. It was pathetic really. We chose a table towards the back. As soon as a waitress came over Raida had me ordered the strongest drink the tavern carried. I, myself, was content to sip over a glass of water. I was never a fan of drinking in public, especially with Raida.

As we sat waiting, I listened to all of the conversations going on around us. They all spoke predominately of war between, from what I could decipher, the two countries Crimea and Daein. I figured it would be best for Raida and me to avoid those two areas until it died down.  I sat back when the waitress came back with our order. Raida immediately got to work downing the dark ale. I had yet to touch my water, content to watch the patrons around me. The hairs on the back of my neck began to stand and I could feel something coming. Raida, obviously having felt the tension in the air too, placed her mug on the counter and patiently looked over towards a blonde- haired guy in blue armor.

The man was definitely drunk, if the tint of his cheeks and the glossed over look in his eyes were anything to go by. On his lap sat a scantily clad girl. Her skirt barely covered her ass and the shirt she wore belonged on a five year old. The two clearly had plans to move their flirting to the next level. I didn’t quite understand why he had caught Raida’s eye, for although he was huge, in his intoxicated state he probably wouldn’t be able to stand.

I got my answer when in walked six maybe seven men. In front stood a tall, muscular man; the leader if I had to guess. He had a nasty scar on his left arm and wore an eye patch. He looked quite incensed and locked his eyes on the blue clad man and the woman on his lap. While everyone in the bar stood up and backed away, Raida moved closer to the action. I could only drop my head in shame at her belligerent ways.

“You got something that belongs to me.” I could never stand how guys could treat a woman like property. Looking at the girl, I could tell she didn’t really mine though. I knew how this was going to play out. Of course, the blue armored man was too drunk to do the smart thing and keep his mouth shut.

“I ain’ got notin of yers.” I could only cringe as the man’s speech reached my ears. He was more intoxicated than I had thought. Quickly the girl scrambled off his lap and positioned herself behind him. “This gurl ‘ere’s been tellin’ me ‘bout how you treat her. Yer don’ ‘ver hit a lady.”

Oh Yune, this could not have gotten any worse. Raida had been itching for a fight, but if this man was a woman beater he was beyond saving. I could only watch in despair as Raida’s hands clenched into fists. This was not going to end well.

“Shut your fuckin’ mouth. I can do whatever the hell I want.” I watched as the drunken man stood up on shaky legs. If he could barely stand, he definitely would not be able to fight. Taking a quick glance around the bar, I could see that no one was going to come to his rescue.  Sighing, I stood up to make my way over to where Raida stood seething.

Going out with Raida had made me sort of a bar fight veteran. After the first few times of trying to make myself part of the walls, I had learned how to handle myself in an alteration with drunken and angry men. I had no doubt in my mind that I was going to need to call on all of those past experiences with a two on seven (or was it eight, now?) bar fight. No matter how big and armored clad the blonde man was, he was still too drunk to be effective in a fight.

I could see the exact moment when the first punch was thrown. Raida was quicker to move than I was, and using the guy’s forward motion, tossed him over her shoulder. He landed with a loud thud, groaning while two of his lackey’s ran over to check on him. The confusion in the men’s eyes was clear. This small platinum blonde with her curly hair falling over her shoulders had just taken out their leader. Raida was a really pretty woman, and her smaller stature always threw her opponents of balance because the assumed her to be too fragile and small to do anything; foolish and deadly dismissals when it came to her.

One of the smarter looking thugs stepped over towards Raida, hesitantly glancing at her and back towards his fallen boss. “Look pretty lady, how about you just step out of the way.”

The slight raising of Raida’s right eyebrow was the only warning giving before she thrust her palm into the unfortunate man’s throat. The force of the blow sent the man reeling, and he bent over giving Raida the perfect opportunity to jump and knee him in the face. I could hear the sickening crunch of either his nose or cheek bones breaking as he slumped to the ground.  By this time their leader had managed to stand up again. Seeing one of his men go down only served to increase his ire and he lunged towards Raida, only to be tackled by the blue armored man. Deciding that Raida could handle the other four men in front of her, I calmly stepped in front of the two men who had run to help their boss.

They didn’t hesitate to attack me, and I took a deep breath, slipping back into my training. The first punch wasn’t anywhere near fast enough to hit me. I moved to the outside of his body, grasped his forearm with my left hand and struck his elbow in with my right palm. There was a satisfying pop as he screamed in agony. I didn’t have time to celebrate this since his companion came at me.

  ** _An angry fighter is a fighter that makes mistakes._**

I had to learn the hard way that anger only serves to blind you during a fight. It may give you the strength to take down an adversary, but if you weren’t coherent enough to hit your target that strength was worthless. In his haste to exact revenge on me for felling his comrade, he wildly punched at me with his right hand. His left hung by his side leaving his middle open. Because I was so short I didn’t have to duck too far down to be at stomach level. His rage had spurred his forward movement, and if I was another lowly bar fighter I probably would have been hit. Instead, I struck him in the stomach with my elbow. The rush of breath as he took the blow flew towards my face, and I couldn’t help but to scrunch up my nose. Did this guy not practice basic hygiene?

As soon as he closed his eyes I grabbed the arms he had used to instinctively protect his middle. Pulling him forward, I shot my leg forward into his sternum. Two cracks alerted me to the fact that he now had broken ribs.  As soon as he doubled over I put my fists together and smashed my hands into the back of his head. I didn’t take the time to watch him hit the ground, instead returning to my first attacker, who was still reeling from the pain of his broken elbow. Taking pity on him, I swiftly hit him in the back of the head, knocking him unconscious. I looked to Raida to see her standing triumphantly over the still bodies of the rest of the group.

The blonde armored man and the leader were tangled in each other’s grasps. They both looked pretty determined to push the other to the ground. Raida, still geared up for a fight, picked up a bottle from behind the bar, made her way over to the fighting pair, and smashed the bottle over the scarred man. He was out like a light immediately.

A quick scan of the room revealed little damaged done. For the most part the place was intact, except for the broken bottle and the table that Raida threw the guy on top of. I was beyond pleased. This was by far the least amount of damage the two of us had ever done to a tavern before.  I turned my eyes back to Raida and the blonde man. The two made eye contact for a good while, before the man broke out in a grin and proclaimed:

“You are the most beautiful woman I have ever laid my eyes upon.” The indignant squeak of the woman that had been the cause of this conflict was ignored, as Raida rolled her eyes in disgust and walked off. I hurried after her making sure to leave enough money to pay for our drinks and hopefully the table, on the counter of the bar before the two of us exited. The walk to the inn was fairly quiet, surprising since I had figured that the man would have followed Raida out the door.

“He was quite enamored with you, Raida” I couldn’t keep myself from teasing my teacher as we entered the inn and made our way up to our rooms.

“ **Shut the fuck up.”**

“ **Good night, Raida.”** I responded with a chuckle as we stopped in front of our respective doors.

**“I hope you have nightmares, bastard.”**

I’m fairly certain that the whole inn heard my laugh as I closed the door to my room.

 ********

 

The next morning we decided to head into town to eat breakfast. Raida was of the opinion that the inn was going to overcharge us after seeing the money we had. I chose a simple white shirt and brown leather pants. The belt I wore allowed me to hook my tonfa and fans on. I was tying a simpler pair of grievers on my feet when Raida entered the room, slamming the door on the wall as she sauntered in. She wore loose shorts and a cut off shirt.  On either side of her hips sat her favorite double blades. The pouch wrapped around her thigh held several poisoned throwing needles. She tossed me a cloak, which I put on quickly before placing our money in the carry bag. There were no offers to serve us breakfast as we walked out into the city, and for that I was grateful.

“ **We can eat over there.”** Raida said after we had been wondering for a bit. The building looked out of place in this area. It wasn’t run down per se, but it wasn’t the nice, up kept building that the others around it were. Raida didn’t hesitate to step inside, leaving me to follow after her. The inside was somewhat better than the outside and- spotting a table towards the back- we sat down and were served fairly quickly.

“ **I’m sure that you want to go spend sometime in the nearby forest, so I’ll go check out the weapons shops around here. Hopefully someone will be skilled enough to do custom weapons.”** As usual Raida could read me like a book. I nodded and she talked about what she was looking to have done when she visited the blacksmiths today. The server came back with our food and we ate at a sedate pace. Leaving money on the table, we both went our separate ways, deciding to meet up again during the evening.

The forest outside of Sienne was well kept, and I immediately made my way to the densest part, sending out greetings to the greenery as I passed.

 _You are new to this forest, yes?_ It took me a moment to realize that it was the large elder tree behind me that had spoken. __

 _Yes, this is my first time here._ I took a seat, my back pressed to the trees trunk. I think my calmness and ability to talk to the great tree was enough reassurance for the rest of the forest, which had been strangely quiet as I traveled, greeted me in earnest. I smiled gently.

 _Last night I heard some people talking about war here in Tellius, can you tell me anymore._ This started a cacophony of answers, every tree bush and flower doing their best to repeat all that they knew. It was a lot for me to handle and I could barely tell one response from the next. The elder tree took pity on me, calling for all the others to be quiet. I listened patiently as each plant relayed what they knew to me, either from the mouths of men that had passed, or from forests in other areas of the continent,

From what I could understand, the war had started when Daein had invaded neighboring Crimea without warning. Daein had decimated the unprepared Crimea, and had taken the throne from their king. The king had a daughter in secret though, and she was currently gathering strength and had recently asked the Apostle, Begnion’s Empress, for aid.  No one knew much beyond that. I thanked them with earnest, and decide to change the topic, instead asking them to tell me about their lives and the lives of the people here in Begnion. I had to laugh the way they portrayed the people of Begnion, and I’m sure if Raida could understand them that she would be on the ground in tears.

 _Someone is coming._ I don’t think that I had ever jumped up so quickly in my life. _I do not believe they mean you any harm, they seem more curious than anything._

No matter what they seemed to be, I knew that it could be fatal to not be on your guard. I heard the rustling of leaves long before seeing the person come into view.

“I wasn’t expecting anyone else to be out here.” The voice was both deep in pitch and gentle in tone. I had no idea who this person was so I couldn’t tell if they were being sincere or trying to throw me off balance. Out from behind the tree stepped a large man. His hair was blue and cut short, his body tall and muscular. I could tell that he was someone important just by the air he gave off as he looked at me. He was handsome, yes, quite good-looking in fact. His face didn’t hold my attention as much as the sword by his side did.

“Neither was I.” Placing my hand on the elder tree, I stepped to the side of it. I had no doubt in my mind that if he lunged at me I could run and use my connection to the forest as to my advantage. I don’t think I’d be able to handle this guy by myself. I watched as he placed his sword back into its sheath and smiled serenely at me.

“I see. If I may ask, what exactly are you doing here?” I had no idea if this place was private territory or not. If so, I could be in a bind for trespassing. Elder tree assured me that this particular forest was unclaimed, and I let out a huge sigh of relief.

“Enjoying nature, I suppose.” He took a seat one leg up to rest his arm on, the other sprawled forward. The position looked relaxed, but I could see that he was just as much on edge as I was.

“I, too, am out here to enjoy the tranquility that nature provides.” The elder tree confirmed his words, assuring me that this was not the first time he had been here.

“I guess I’m intruding then.” I had every intention of leaving as soon as the trees made his presence known. His small tall had just kept me from doing so.

“I’m afraid I am the one who has intruded on you. Please stay.” Obviously, he was quite aware of what I was attempting to do. Politely, I shook my head in the negative. “I insist.”

I didn’t want to appear an ass, so I retook my seat, shifting my tonfa so that they were easily accessible.

“I am Zelgius.” I was a little more than startled to hear him so casually name himself. There was a long pause where he shifted slightly and I looked down unsure of what to say. It couldn’t hurt, especially considering I’d probably never see him again.

“Andúne.”  I had no idea what he could possibly gain by talking to me. Raida took the gold with her, so he couldn’t steal anything. We sat in silence for maybe an hour before he spoke again.

“Do you travel alone?” In the time that I had been left alone to my own thoughts, I had honestly forgotten that he was there. I looked to his face, focusing on his green eyes. It would be far too cheesy to say that I “got lost” in his eyes, but they certainly had an appealing quality. His gaze was intense even though the rest of his body was at ease. I’m positive that most men would have been cowering underneath a stare that hard (and most women swooning). I think I managed a good level of curiosity and calmness; however I was all too aware that my looks often ended completely opposite of my intentions.

“No. My friend is in town.” ‘She knows I am here,’ went unspoken but  I could see the understanding in his eyes. There was something different about his man, something off. I had to think for a moment before it hit me. “You’re a Halfling, too!”

He didn’t respond immediately, though his eyes became tinted with a malice that had me reaching for my weapons. I kept a loose grip on them, trying to remain as non-threatening as possible. I watched him slowly stand up, and though he didn’t look like he was about to attack, I couldn’t stop myself from gripping my tonfa tightly. Instead of lunging for me he calmly grabbed his sword, then turned to me and said, “I know not what you speak of.”

I didn’t know how to respond to that, so I just watched him walk back the way he came. I was almost positive that he was of half-Beorc, half-Laguz, but why the hell would he deny it?

 _I’m afraid that things are different here._ I didn’t bother to say anything in response. At this point I had already resigned myself to that fact.

 ********

­­­So, obviously meeting Zelgius didn’t go as well as it could have. At this point, I had no clue what was wrong with being a Halfling, but I ended up learning is much about Tellius by the time my journey ends. I’m not going to say anything about how I feel (it’s probably really obvious), I want you to have your own opinions. There’s a lot more action and quite a bit of angst yet to come.

Hoping that there will be a next time,

      Andúne.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Yay! First chapter out of the way. How'd I do??


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